Protect and Survive: A Timeline
- Thread starter Macragge1
- Start date
True but bearing in mind that Stockholm has only been hit lightly, Stockholm Arlande airport is most likely intact along with all the planes there at the time. A few of Scandinavian Airlines System DC10s and 747 are likely still on the Tarmac. Both of these have a far greater range and payload capacity compared to a Vulcan.
Spare parts for a Vulcan are not exactly going to be common in Sweden, while the opposite is probably going to be true for the DC10 and 747. In extremis one 747 can be stripped of parts to keep another going.
Another excellent update - the combination of dry, postapocalyptic detail and human drama continues to be gripping. I could be wrong, but the flares strike as pretty ominous indeed. I imagine the Librarian and company will be getting pretty short shrift if and when the authorities run them to ground.
Incidentally, will we hear more about the detectives down in Portsmouth and their murder investigation?
Incidentally, will we hear more about the detectives down in Portsmouth and their murder investigation?
I view her now as Clarisse from Fahrenheit 451, and thus a rather dischevelled looking Julie Christie.
Short shrift is a bit of an understatement. If the security forces catch up with her and her group it'll be a case of 'Rule .303' (well Rule 7.62, but you know what I mean).
I very much appreciated your take on "Cannibalism", especially the way you evoke pictures of a more apocalyptic setting and then what you describe is an important part of the reconstruction effort.
An absolutely plausible policy in my eyes and absolutely plausibly described concerning its shortcomings.
On a side note...might Sir Humphrey Appleby be part of Chanticleer?
An absolutely plausible policy in my eyes and absolutely plausibly described concerning its shortcomings.
On a side note...might Sir Humphrey Appleby be part of Chanticleer?
In '84 Sir Humprey was still at the DAA (IIRC), so no he'd not be at CHANTICLEER, but would probably be the senior official at an RGHQ. Sir Arnold would be at Corsham.
I think the appocalypse is bad enough without the prospect of Jim Hacker being a Regional Comissioner!
I think the appocalypse is bad enough without the prospect of Jim Hacker being a Regional Comissioner!
You mean a "Clarisse" that somehow got her hands on Beatty's flamethrower?
Oh, absolutely. If they're lucky.
I wonder, if we can have not-Gene Hunt down in Portsmouth, we can probably have not-Jim Hacker as the overlord of some chunk of Blighty, can't we?
Although maybe the Controller we already have is sort of the grim'n'gritty version already? I imagine Sir Humphrey is in his element, ruling over his own little fiefdom very efficiently indeed, whatever the actual organisational diagrams might say...The DAA was not a major department of State, or at least that was my impression anyway, which rules out one of the more important RGHQs. We can also rule out Scotland, Wales and NI as they'd be under their respective departments.
A plausible post would be as Regional Commissioner for the North-East, so effectivley the Controller could be reporting to him, or through County to him. OTOH he might have been unlucky and been one of the ministers required to stay behind in London.
Anybody else think that discussing Yes Minister post apocalypse is just a bit weird?
A plausible post would be as Regional Commissioner for the North-East, so effectivley the Controller could be reporting to him, or through County to him. OTOH he might have been unlucky and been one of the ministers required to stay behind in London.
Anybody else think that discussing Yes Minister post apocalypse is just a bit weird?
What do you think is the biggest city in Europe to be completely unharmed in the war?No nukes no fighting no nothing,doesn't include possible riotiong and unrest due to shortages after the war that pretty much is a given but no direct or indirect hits from nukes or major fighting.We should exclude from the list of survivors cities which may be unharmed in the immediate aftermath but still affected by fallout meaning a place like Malmo Sweden which in theory should be unhit would still be screwed because of its proximity to Copenhagen which would have received multiple strikes.I'm talking the biggest city which doesn't have to fear anything more than food shortages and refugees no significant fallout or even more strikes.
Looking at the map, I can't imagine that any European city with more than 200,000 inhabitants would survive targeting with at least one weapon, so while a few of these would survive due to inaccuracy or the warhead having been targeted not at the city itself but a nearby locale (such as an airport), it is difficult to say which specific towns would survive. My best guess would some either somewhere in the Balkans, Italy, Spain, or Scandinavia.
EDIT: What the hell am I talking about? Of course the biggest remaining city would be Zürich, since we've confirmed that it was never hit.
EDIT: What the hell am I talking about? Of course the biggest remaining city would be Zürich, since we've confirmed that it was never hit.
Falkenburg
Monthly Donor
I have my doubts about that.
If the Soviets were going to hit Britain it makes sense to lob a few Irelands' way while you're at it.
Although, IIRC, Shannon had an agreement with Aeroflot (Slots or fuelling or something), so maybe the Brits or the Americans decided to do the job themselves.
Either way, with all the missiles flying around (and the all but inevitable flare up in the North) I can't see the Republic getting off too easily.
Falkenburg
If the Soviets were going to hit Britain it makes sense to lob a few Irelands' way while you're at it.
Although, IIRC, Shannon had an agreement with Aeroflot (Slots or fuelling or something
), so maybe the Brits or the Americans decided to do the job themselves.Either way, with all the missiles flying around (and the all but inevitable flare up in the North) I can't see the Republic getting off too easily.
Falkenburg
Macragge1
Banned
Not to come across as an ingrate but I was hoping for more.
Even so, another sterling effort Macragge. I hope the Librarian gets away.
I have a soft spot for homicidal bibliophiles. As long as it's in a 'good' cause.
Falkenburg
Apologies for this one not being longer; to be honest, it was one of the more troublesome episodes to write - it's a lot easier to write an update that leads up to a big set piece; this one is more the type that moves the story along and gets the players in position - naturally, this requires a different touch.
I'm glad you enjoyed what was offered though; I can't reveal yet whether or not this bibliophilia is for a good or bad cause, or even for a cause at all, but stay tuned!
Red...White...Green
Italy
It's a nice idea, but you're giving me too much credit - it's just the security forces going through their illumination flares at random, with a view to lighting up the area rather than sending any signals. The Looter, having become a rather odd character, is rather enjoying the light show, and will continue to until it starts to get threatening.
Very very glad that you liked it, thanks!
We'll see!
There's a war on in theory; the big battlefield of Europe is a write-off, though, of course, and elsewhere, few surviving units are able to concentrate on staying alive, let alone continuing a war for nothing.
Saying that, there's still the occasional lone ship that goes missing, and the fear that follow-up nuclear strikes will occur is a growing one within CHANTICLEER.
Thanks for the compliments - as I said before, I had a surprising amount of trouble writing this installment - it's more of a plot-advancing one than a big extravaganza; this is why I chose to fill it full of imagery, given not a lot actually happens. To my mind, the big hitter in this chapter was meant to be the newspaper headline, but this understandably has less impact than a battle or an atomic explosion.
With regards to the Swede's Vulcan, Jan - whilst we can be sure now that the aircraft was fairly dated, the Swedish authorities in '84 know the only way to be sure of this is to have a good, deep look; given all of the modifications that got bolted on to the airframe over the years (espec. the low level flight stuff and new electronics and ECM that, and I'll have to check my Osprey on this, turned up in the '70s) and the fact that the 'plane was always seen as quite futuristic and advanced even when it was retired meant that I reckoned the Swedes would be interested in taking a look, given that this was the only chance they would ever get, and given that they think they can get away with it.
Thanks very much; I looked through a lot of input from down-thread for this one, especially yours and Sam. R's contributions from a few pages ago; suffice to say they've been very helpful in trying to piece together a continuing narrative.
I'm glad that the 'detail and drama' is still hitting the spot; trying to complement one with the other was the idea with this timeline from the get go. If our friends in the village do get caught, one can't imagine they'll get much leniency.
The Portsmouth strand is continuing - I just had this one in hand first so jinked the traditional one-on/one-off order.
Thanks for the kind words.
I very much appreciated your take on "Cannibalism", especially the way you evoke pictures of a more apocalyptic setting and then what you describe is an important part of the reconstruction effort.
An absolutely plausible policy in my eyes and absolutely plausibly described concerning its shortcomings.
On a side note...might Sir Humphrey Appleby be part of Chanticleer?
I'm glad you liked the take on 'cannibalism'; it's all based on real planning, sourced mostly from War Plan UK, which, whilst very political, still paints an accurate picture of a lot of civil defence planning (or, often, the lack of it.)
The shortcomings of such a plan aren't really touched upon in the book - which is strange, as the author often pulls no punches with his criticisms - but a cursory look at the average post-war world gives one an understanding of the difference between the plans made and the ability to carry them out.
You're right. Still, there's the obvious problem that some cities that lie miles and miles away from bomb-sites could still find themselves in just as much distress given the collapse that has occured.
I have my doubts about that.
If the Soviets were going to hit Britain it makes sense to lob a few Irelands' way while you're at it.
Although, IIRC, Shannon had an agreement with Aeroflot (Slots or fuelling or something
Either way, with all the missiles flying around (and the all but inevitable flare up in the North) I can't see the Republic getting off too easily.
Falkenburg
There's a high chance the Soviets would target Eire; a total nuclear exchange had a healthy dose of Gottdamerung about it; whilst not a member of NATO, Eire was a democracy and was certainly leaning towards the West; in Soviet targeters' eyes a healthy Ireland could pose a big problem post-war.
The thing you mention about Aeroflot is interesting; whilst it's possible that Ireland had some sort of deal with this 'civilian' (albeit Soviet therefore state-run) airline, I can't see it going any further for fear of antagonising their neighbours. Still, I could be wrong. Even so, I doubt the UK would be too keen on nuking Eire, given its close proximity both to the mainland (even if the fallout, in general, would head away to the West) and more importantly, to Ulster.
Is one of the few ways of cutting down on the Civil Service.
Seriously though knowing how big the service is in reality the figure Sir Humphrey gives for staffing in the DAA would make it the largest department in the government. IIRC he said there were something like 22,000 Civil Servants in the DAA; at the time of the show there were something like 500,000 in total. We're down to 471,000 as of 2011 and falling.
IIRC Aeroflot had a fuel depot at Shannon.
I would love to be a fly on the wall when the Swedes take a look at the Vulcan and perhaps realise that it is not quite a futuristic as they maybe imagined.
I know what you mean about finding some chapters easier to write than others. Big set pieces are easy to write, but it's the little, subtle character led bits that are more satisfying.
I would love to be a fly on the wall when the Swedes take a look at the Vulcan and perhaps realise that it is not quite a futuristic as they maybe imagined.
I know what you mean about finding some chapters easier to write than others. Big set pieces are easy to write, but it's the little, subtle character led bits that are more satisfying.